April 12, 2012

An Anthro Knock Off- TUTORIAL

Yes, it's a knock off. I saw this beauty on the Anthro website last fall:

It's called the Modular Necklace, and retailed for $88 CDN. Say what?! $88 for some embroidery thread and a safety pin is a bit extreme, I think, so I figured I could make it myself :) And, I think my version is pretty dead on, no?

Ready to start?

Read on, then!

These are called "Cord End Crimps" and I bought them off Etsy, $3.99 for a bag pf 100.

I bought my thread at Wal-Mart. Though I saw some GORGEOUS colors at Michael's.

And, I chose these colors to keep it as close to the original as possible. I added a red (I didn't see what color the original had, in one part because it was hidden) and gray (not pictured, but keep reading). Also the Sienna color beside the pic, did NOT go on the charm, but rather near the neck clasp.

You will also need:

- silver chain

-clasps (for the back of the necklace)

- 4 jump rings

- jewelry pliers

Annnnd, GO!

1. take your looped thread and

2. squeeze and twist (in the middle) it as thin as it'll go.

3. Put the twisted part into the crimp, and use your fingers to squeeze it shut, as much as you can.

4. Use your pliers to squeeze shut a bit more BUT NOT ALL THE WAY!

5. This is what it looks like from the back

6. cut off excess from onto the crimp, in a rounded cut.

7. Pull the bottom thread down to bring the cut part into the very top of the crimp. SQUEEZE IT COMPLETELY CLOSED. (use pliers)

8. Trim and even out thread.

9. Do that 10 times.

Moving right along...

For my gray thread:

The original has 10 little thread crimps on the safety pin. For my size pin, 10 felt crowded, so I did 9 :)

Now, add your jump rings into the circle-y part and the entry part of the safety pin, as shown below:

Add you chain, and your clasp, with jump rings again:

Add the extra "dangle-y"

And you're done!

I love the way it looks, it's very different and simple, but so colorful and cheery!

And really, what's better than thread and a safety necklace for a fabric lover like myself?!

SO, I'm not going to say it was super easy, because it wasn't. BUT it wasn't hard, either. Just the putting the thread in the crimps is kinna a pain, but once you've done two, it gets a LOT easier!

I hope you give it a try! It's really not so bad, I promise.

And, as always, if you have any questions, or if I lost you without detailed instructions for the jump ring and added the necklace part, please don't hesitate to ask! I will answer them best I can! Just make sure you leave an email I can reply to, otherwise, I'll reply on this post :)